Archive for the ‘communication difficulties’ Category

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is one of the biggest childhood disorders. As awareness of the condition increases, researchers are seeing an increase in the number of children receiving an early diagnosis of autism.

What is Autism?

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is a lifelong disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to the people around them. A child on the autistic spectrum will have difficulties developing friendships and will have communication difficulties, a limited understanding of language and an inability to relate to others, or read facial and body language.

Some autistic children may have accompanying learning disabilities. All children with autism have impairments in social interactions, communication and imagination. This is known as the triad of impairments, or social skills deficits.

Signs of what is autism?

Children with autism spectrum disorder will almost certainly exhibit a range of behaviours. Probably the most prominent behaviours shown will be a difficulty relating to others and making friends; communication difficulties, some autistic children may never develop speech; and an inability to engage in imaginative play.

Other signs of autism include obsessions, fears, a lack of awareness of danger, ritualistic play and behaviours for example spinning or lining up objects, twirling and hand flapping, inappropriate eye contact, hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity.

It is important to remember that a child displaying these behaviours may not be autistic.

Many parents look for help to overcome social and communication difficulties in children with autism .

Research into ASD concludes the majority of autism children are visual thinkers and learners. Consequently, resources that can help address a child’s social skills deficits or the triad of impairments are normally visual tools.

Therefore, help to overcome social and communication difficulties in children with autism concludes using visual tools such as autismsocial skills stories, PECS, flash cards and other visual resources are beneficial.

Autism Social Skills Stories are short visual stories, used to detail a skill or situation the child with ASD is struggling to master, for example making friends, imaginative play, sharing, asking questions, taking turns etc.

Developed almost twenty years ago AutismSocial Skills Stories are used as a role model, or visual plan of the skill or situation, using visual images and short pieces of first person text to describe the skill or situation in a manner the child with ASD will understand.

To learn more about Autism Social Skills Stories and how they can be used to help overcome social and communication difficulties in your child on the autistic spectrum and get immediate download of autism social skills stories for children with autism spectrum disorder visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

The symptoms of autism vary between individuals, however all kidswith autism will have social skills impairments: Deficits in social skills affects the child’s social interaction skills, will cause communicationdifficulties, and difficulties with imagination as well as sensory processing issues.

It is often noted that kids with autism live in a very literal world often referred to as “Autism Own World”.

Intervention strategies are used to help overcome social skills impairments and pave the way to positive behaviours.

Intervention strategies like autistic social skills stories are used to help with situations and skills like: transitions, changes to routines, learning new skills, hygiene issues, communication difficulties, social interaction deficits and HELP pave the way to positive behaviours.

Children with autism spectrum tend to prefer structure and routines and dislike changes. Many children with ASD struggle to find and maintain friendships with their peers.

Understanding your autistic child is difficult, ASD intervention tactics ARE designed to HELP you teach and re-enforce social and communication skills and behaviours. ASD intervention tactics can make the difference in helping your autistic child reach his or her full potential

ASD intervention tactics help the ASD child understand the world they live in, probably them most popular strategy is autistic social skills stories.

Autistic social skills stories are short descriptive pieces of text normally written in first person text and from the autistic child’s own point of view.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is being diagnosed far more these days. Research into pervasive developmental disorder has suggested that using visual support tools such as autism social stories has impacted on the lives and families of those diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

Research suggests the vast majority of children with autism are visual thinkers and learners meaning they think in pictures, making autism social stories the ideal intervention strategy to use.

Autistic social skill stories answer the ever important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness in children with autism.

ASD intervention tactics such as autism social stories are used for all situations and activities the ASD child may be confused by or struggling with, for example: Going to the dentist, making friends, play, a new car, brushing their hair and so on.

The indications of autism vary between individuals, however all kidswith autism will have social skills impairments: Deficits in social skills affects the child’s social interaction skills, will cause social skills impairments, and difficulties with imagination as well as sensory processing issues.

It is often noted that kids with autism live in a very literal world often referred to as “Autism Own World”.

Intervention approaches are used to help overcome social skills impairments and pave the way to positive behaviours.

Intervention approaches like autistic social skills stories are used to help with situations and skills like: transitions, changes to routines, learning new skills, hygiene issues, communication difficulties, social interaction deficits and HELP pave the way to positive behaviours.

Children with Autism tend to prefer structure and routines and dislike changes. Many children with ASD struggle to find and maintain friendships with their peers.

Understanding your child with autism is difficult, ASD intervention approaches ARE designed to HELP you teach and re-enforce social and communication skills and behaviours. ASD intervention approaches can make the difference in helping your child with autism reach his or her full potential

ASD intervention approaches help the ASD child understand the world they live in, probably them most popular strategy is autistic social skills stories .

Autistic social skills stories are short descriptive pieces of text normally written in first person text and from the autistic child’s own point of view.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is being diagnosed far more these days. Research into pervasive developmental disorder has suggested that using visual support tools such as autism social stories has impacted on the lives and families of those diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

Research suggests the vast majority of children with autism are visual thinkers and learners meaning they think in pictures, making autism social stories the ideal intervention strategy to use.

Social stories answer the ever important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness in children with autism.

ASD intervention approaches such as autism social stories are used for all situations and activities the ASD child may be confused by or struggling with, for example: Going to the dentist, making friends, play, a new car, brushing their hair and so on.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have social deficiencies these are familiar to autism; it is due to these social deficiencies that the autistic child may be unaware of the rules of social conduct, how to act in public or interactions. Even though all autistic individuals have social deficiencies the level of disability and the combination of symptoms will vary from person to person.

Having social deficiencies is familiar to autism and at times can leave the autistic child open to bullying especially at school.

For many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder understanding language can also cause problems.

Generally kids with autism that display communication difficulties will misunderstand simple directions or questions and may take what is said too literally. For example; metaphors, humour, sarcasm, irony and other figures of speech (such as “watch what you say”) can all be confusing.

Due to their social deficiencies sometimes kids with autism can come across as rude or aloof. But while they may appear emotionally flat, the reality is that autistic child is far from unfeeling. What may appear like indifference or insensitivity is actually due to social impairments, the inability to see things as other people do.

However using management tactics of autism for communication struggles in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder will be beneficial.

There are many management tactics of autism available with social skills stories being probably the most significant for communication struggles in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Social Skills Stories are used effectively by parents, teachers, care givers and other professionals to help improve and teach social, imagination and interaction skills and behaviours as well as addressing communication difficulties in children with autism.

Social skills stories are management tactics of autism that are easy to implement and need no formal training to use, they can be downloaded from the internet or provided by your child’s OT, speech therapist and sometimes school.

Social skills stories help overcome social deficiencies by communication struggles in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, by helping the child with autism learn appropriate social skills and behaviours.

The social skills story provides the child with a step by step visual plan detailing the key points or goals, allowing them a chance to rehearse the skill or behaviour they are struggling with. Which will make the child feel more comfortable with and in the situation they are struggling with and less likely to become stressed or agitated.

Looking at Communication Difficulties in Autism – USING VISUAL SUPPORTS

Children with autism have difficulties with communication skills, and will often not develop effective communication . It is believed that up to 50% of children with autism spectrum will NOT develop speech, while others will develop speech slowly.

When we think of speech we are thinking of the body of words and the formation of sounds, as well as the structure and forms used to allow speech.

However with communication this can be either verbally through speech or non-verbally through gestures, signs and pointing to printed words or symbols.

Typically children with autism spectrum WILL struggle with all forms of communication verbal and non-verbal and will use speech as a secondary language. Children with autism spectrum ARE generally VISUAL thinkers this means that they
think in pictures / images, this is their first language.

It is therefore beneficial for teacher and parents to consider visual information as a means of communication and use speech / words less. Visual communication supports for autism can be in many forms – social stories, visual social story cards,
PECS, flash cards, visual timetables and so on.

As children develop they begin to explore their environment and learn cause and affect – for example a thirsty child may point to his cup, a tired child may raise their arms to be picked up, this is cause and affect. This inquisitiveness for exploration to learn this cause and affect is typically missing in children with autism.

By the time a non-verbal autistic child starts school chances are they will already have been seen by a speech therapist. In many cases it will be necessary for the autistic child to learn a new form of communication – a child that screams and tantrums to
get what they need is not going to “fit in” at school. A new means of communication will be needed to control the need for the screaming – for example visual communication supports for autism such as visual social story cards, PECS and flash cards can be introduced.

Visual social story cards are small laminated cards approx. 8cm by 11cm that can be introduced to help the child learn new skills or understand behaviours that they find difficult to master, for example break time, using the potty, time out and so on.

The social story cards are short visual stories much like a comic script that are used as a visual plan or framework of the skill or behaviour, always from the autistic child’s own perspective and in first person text. The social story cards will describe the skill or behaviour and give possible outcomes.

Visual social story cards answer the “wh” questions – who, what, why, when and where as well as “HOW” and provide an insight into how others may be feeling, which is an area of marked weakness in most autistic children.

Generally children with autism are visual thinkers this means that they think in pictures (pictures being the first language and speech/words the second language).

Consequently, for the majority of children with autism using visual information and teaching is far easier for them to understand.

Avoid long strings of verbal instructions. People with autism have problems with remembering the sequence. Instead use smaller sentences and visual prompts, like visual flash cards and visual social story cards.

Nonverbal autistic children and adults will find it easier to associate words with pictures if they see the printed word and a picture like for example on the visual flash cards.

Therefore, when looking at ways to teach children with autism social behaviours it is probably a good idea to consider visual strategies.

There are many forms of visual strategies available to teach social behaviours: visual social story cards, visual flash cards, PECS and social skills stories are a few on offer to parents, caregivers and teachers of autistic children and adults.

Visual strategies like social stories use visual images and short pieces of text in a manner that people with autism find easy to understand. The social story and visual social story cards use appropriate first person text and are always from the autistic individual’s point of view.

Many autistic individual’s use social stories to help with social awareness skills and behaviours as well as an aid for communication difficulties which are also a common issue for many people with autism.

Commonly autistic children and adults have communication difficulties, therefore social skills stories are implemented to help them overcome many of the difficulties that face.

A social story answers the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as HOW and will give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness for most autistic individuals.

The social story and visual socials story cards follow a set pattern of sentence type and are generally written in word format making editing easy. No two individuals are ever the same and we all use different terminology with our youngster, therefore editing is on essential.

To learn more about visual flash cards, visual social story cards and social stories visit any of the following sites:

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is a pervasive developmental disorder that affects how the individual processes information, thinks, acts and reacts. Autism Spectrum Disorder is normally diagnosed in early childhood.

After a diagnosis of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) many parents are left confused and anxious, wondering how the diagnosis of ASD will affect their child and family life.

No two people on the spectrum will ever be the same, and so the symptoms of autism will vary between individuals. However generally kidswith autism will display social awkwardness lack imagination skills and communicationdifficulties, this can cause issues with maintaining friendships and so on.

Kids with autism generally find it hard to make any sense of their environment.

Studies show that in some kids with autism symptoms may not present themselves until the child is between 1 -2 years of age.

What is autism? Here is a list of some of the possible symptoms of autism you may have noticed in your ASD child:

An ASD child may lack the ability to direct an-other person’s attention to what they want or need. Unlike a normally developing child, who will point or gesture towards the object in question.

Kids with autism rarely adjust their gaze to look at objects, and lack the inclination to look at something they are being directed towards.

An ASD child may have communication difficulties and find sustaining or beginning conversations difficult.

Sometimes kids with autism will be slow developing speech and sometimes speech may never actually begin.

They may engage in repetitive behaviours…for example repeating a TV commercial or rhyme etc.

They may confuse simple language terms like wait a minute, or hold on a second and take this as literal. The ASD child may alsouse language in the wrong context, for example they may refer to themselves by name in a conversation or sentence, not by saying “I”; i.e. rather than saying “can I have a biscuit”, they may say “Ben wants a biscuit” and so on…

On occasions an autistic child may prefer to communicate by gesture rather than using speech.

Many autistic children struggle with social situations and may therefore prefer solitary play. The ASD child may have difficulties maintaining and starting friendships with peers difficult. Autistic children and autistic people in general have difficulties in making eye contact which can make encounters difficult!

Generally an autistic child will struggle with interactive games and pretend play, failing to see what the point of the activity or game is.

Autism what is it?Understanding your ASD child and forming appropriate ASD strategies is very important and will make the difference in helping your autistic child reach his or her full potential

There are many ASD strategies to help kids with autism understand the world they live in…

One very effective way of accomplishing this is by the introduction of visual support tools such as autism social stories

Autism Spectrum Disorder is being diagnosed far more these days. Research into pervasive developmental disorder has suggested that using visual support tools such as autism social stories has impacted on the lives and families of those diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder such as ASD
(Autism Spectrum Disorder)

ASD strategies such as autism social stories are used for all situations and activities the ASD child may be confused by or struggling with, for example: Going to the dentist, the death of a loved one, a new car, brushing their hair.

Social stories answe the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as How and give an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others which is an area of marked wakness in kids with autism. Autism Social Stories act like a role model or visual support plan detailing the skill or situation in a manner the autisti child will understand and will give appropriate direction to help the ASD child cope with and dela with the situation or skill.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder which affects the individual’s brain. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is generally diagnosed before the child reaches three years of age..

A diagnosis of ASD is not the end of the world. The characteristics of autism will undoubtedly vary between individuals, no two kids with autism are ever the same. However common characteristics of autism are: social skills deficits, communicationdifficulties, imagination deficits and difficulties forming friendships with other people.

Typically kids with autism find social situations confusing and can become distressed with changes to routines.

What is autism? Here is a list of some of the possible autism characteristics you may have noticed in your ASD child.

Common autism characteristics:

An ASD child may lack of the ability to direct others attention to what they want or need. Unlike a normally developing child, who will point or gesture towards the object in question.

Generally kids with autism avoid eye contact and will rarely adjust their gaze to look at objects. Most kids with autism also lack the inclination to look at something they are being directed towards.

Typically an ASD child will display communication difficulties, spoken and non-verbal, including the ability to sustain or begin a conversation.

Common to many kids with autism is slow development of speech in some instances speech may never actually develop.

Many children with autism display repetitive behaviours…for example repeating a TV commercial or rhyme etc.

Sometimes children with autism confuse simple language terms, and use language in the wrong context, for example they may refer to themselves by name in a conversation or sentence, not by saying “I”; i.e. rather than saying “can I have a biscuit”, they may say “Ben wants a biscuit” and so on…

On occasions an autistic child may prefer to communicate by gesture rather than using speech.

Typically, autistic children will prefer to be alone mainly because they find social situations difficult and confusing. A child with ASD will find making and maintaining friendships with peers difficult.

A child with ASD will undoubtedly have difficulties with imagination skills and may find interactive games and pretend play confusing and difficult to understand.

Autism what is it?Understanding your ASD child and forming appropriate ASD strategies is very important and will make the difference in helping your child with ASD reach his or her full potential

There are many ASD strategies to help kids with autism combat social skills deficits, communication difficulties and deficits with imagination skills.

One very effective way of accomplishing this is by the introduction of visual support tools such as autism social stories.

Research indicates an increase in the number of children diagnosed autistic. With research into pervasive developmental disorders showing that the use of visual support tools such as autism social stories has made a vast impact on the lives of children with autism and their families.

ASD strategies such as autism social stories are used for all situations and activities the ASD child may be confused by or struggling with, for example: Going to the dentist, a new car, brushing their hair.

For immediate download of autism social stories which will help combat social skills deficits, communication difficulties and imagination skills deficits visit: www.autismsocialstories.com

Or alternatively visit any of the following sites for more information and social stories.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a common neurological disorder which affects the way a person interacts, thinks, behaves and communicates with other people.

Research into this common neurological disorder shows four times more boys than girls are diagnosed autistic, with the majority being diagnosed autistic by the time they reach the age of three.

The term “Autistic Spectrum Disorder” is an umbrella term which covers a wide variety of spectrum disorders, from low functioning autism where the child will almost certainly have other difficulties such as seizures and in most cases educational difficulties.

To those individuals on the other end of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder scale with conditions such as Asperger’s syndrome or high functioning autism. This set of autistic individuals tend to be of average or above average intelligence, this set of autistic individuals are normally schooled in mainstream education and generally go on to lead relatively “normal” lives.

As with typically developing children no two children with an autistic spectrum disorder will ever be the same. However, common to all spectrum disorders are deficits with social, imagination and communication skills and behaviours, known as the triad of autistic impairments.

The triad of autistic impairments or more commonly referred to as social skills deficitsmake social interactions difficult for children on the spectrum, which can make a child on the spectrum appear rude and aloof, which is not the case, autism may be referred to as “social blindness”.

Having social skills deficits can cause communication difficulties for kids with autism, which can hinder friendships and can cause stress and misunderstandings.

For kids with autism social skills are difficult to learn and for many parents teaching their child on the spectrum social skills can become a primary focus.

Social skills are necessary for independent living, as typically developing beings we naturally learn social and communication skills. This ability is missing in children with autism; therefore social skills need to be taught directly.

Typically children with autism are visual thinkers and learners, meaning they think in pictures. Consequently, visual information (visual intervention strategies) is better understood rather thanspoken or written information.

Visual intervention strategies can help the child with ASD understand the social and communication skills that they are struggling with.

Probably the most popular visual intervention strategies ARE social stories. Developed around twenty years by therapist Carol Gray, social stories are significant treatments of autism which need no formal training to use and can be implemented easily and effectively.

Social stories are short descriptive stories much like a comic script with visual images showing a skill or behaviour in a manner that is easily understood by a child with ASD.

Thesocial skills story breaks down the skill or behaviour into small easy to understand sections.

Using images and first person text the social skills story acts like a visual plan or role model for the child with ASD.

By answering the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what, as well as “HOW” and by providing the child with ASD an insight into emotions, thoughts and feelings of those others involved, and suggest possible outcomes.

As well as detailing what to expect from others and in return what they expect in return from the child, all helping to make the child with ASD more comfortable with and in the situation.

For kids with autism social skills are difficult to learn, BUT social stories ARE shown to help significantly with social and communication difficulties, giving positive results.

Social stories can be used effectively as visual strategies for helping individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) to understand situations, skills, concepts and behaviours they may be struggling to master or cope with.

Developed around twenty years ago to help communication difficulties in ASD children, social stories are now a major autistic resource used to teach and encourage social and communication skills in ASD children and adults

The social skills story follows a set formula of four sentence types.

Social stories for ASD are used in situations and skills the ASD individual finds difficult to cope with, they can be edited and adapted easily by parents, teachers and other professionals working with the ASD individual.

For example, a teacher may use a social skills story to help a student with autism feel more comfortable with recess or a lesson they may find confusing or stressful. The student with autism may also use a social skills story to help them cope with break times, home time and so on.

Teachers can use social stories for ASD in the classroom, on the playground, out and about and for other tasks like personal hygiene etc

Generally children with autism spectrum disorder are “visual thinkers and learners” meaning they think in images and pictures, therefore they are more able to absorb information and instruction when the information is visual rather than written text or auditory.

Social stories are visual strategies which describe a situation, skill, or concept in terms of relevant social cues, perspectives, and common responses.

The social skills story is used to help with communication difficulties, changes to routines, explain rules and show how other people may be feeling by explaining another’s point of view. The social skills story will also show the social cues in situations, also to help with routine changes, unexplained events and so on, helping the child with ASD understand and cope with the situation, skill, concept or behaviour.

The social skills story shows who, what, where, when, why by visually showing where and when a situation occurs, who is involved, how events are sequenced, what occurs, and why.

Common to individuals with autism are social skills deficits. Having social skills deficits can make communication difficult for a child with autism.

As typical beings we communicate both verbally and non-verbally daily. Communication is a major skill, we naturally learn. For individuals with autism however the ability to communicate is affected, having ASD can make an individual react and interact in a very different manner to typically developing beings.

For a child with an ASD expressing their needs or wants, can quite often be misunderstood. For example: In the classroom; A child with autism may not typically ask for a drink when they are thirsty, they may for example snatch the drink from another person, simply take the drink without asking or maybe they will shout out etc., this is typical to autism.

Normally all adverse autistic behaviour will happen for a reason an internal or external factor, not simply out of mischief or the desire to be awkward or naughty.

Research shows us autistic children are generally visual thinkers and learners, which means they think in pictures. Therefore when teaching or caring for a child with autism it is usually best to use visual tools and supports when you are trying to get information across or tackle an adverse autistic behaviour.

Research shows a child with autism will be less confused when the information presented to them is visual.

Understandably many teachers especially those teaching in mainstream education are little prepared to teach a child with autism. The English language is predominantly verbal, and this is the main focus in mainstream education. However with an autistic student this method of teaching is not always going to be affective.

With a poor attention span and communication difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal communication the autistic student may struggle with lessons which are primarily verbal or written.

A lack social skills and communication difficulties can make it problematic for autistic children to make and maintain friendships, and generally “fit in” socially.

Using visual support tools for autism such as social stories; WILL help to improve communication difficulties in a child with autism.

Using visual supports tools for autism within the classroom and at home can help the child with an ASD focus on the skill or situation that they are struggling with. A social skills story can show the child with an ASD a visual step by step plan or framework of what is expected of them and what they can expect from others.

The social skills story answers the “wh” questions (who, where, when, why and what) helping the autistic child feel more comfortable with and in the situation.

Developed almost twenty years ago by therapist Carol Gray to help her communicate with the autistic children she was working with, the social story has now evolved into a significant tool used by parents and teachers to help them improve communication difficulties and social skills in their child with autism.

Research into the latest on autism treatment, shows families and teachers support the uses of visual strategies as a means of teaching and supporting social and communication skills in children with autism.

The priority treatment goals autism are to address social skills deficits and sensory processing issues, achievable using autistic visual supports like social stories, PECS, flash cards and so on.

The predominant characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorders are impairments in an individual’s of social skills, communication difficulties and interaction, along with sensory processing issues, restricted and repetitive activities and interests. This is often referred to as social skills deficits or the theory of mind.

Research shows many parents worry about their child’s ability to make and maintain friendships which often proves difficult for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Probably the main treatment goals for autism are to help overcome social skills deficits – the theory of mind and ease family life and stresses, as well as to help the autistic individual to reach their full potential in quality of life and functional independence.

Achievable with the help of services and autistic visual supports and resources designed specifically to help overcome many of the deficits associated with this disorder. Such as social skills stories specifically designed to address social skills deficits and sensory processing issues as well as communication difficulties.

Parents report significant improvements in social skills understanding once social skills stories have been implemented.

A social story follows a specific pattern of sentence type: descriptive, directive, perspective and control sentences. Social stories were first introduced around twenty years ago as a means of communication, since then their use has expanded and today they are classed as one of the major autistic resources for teaching and supporting social skills learning.

The latest on autism treatment shows a popular increase in the implementation of social stories to address social skills deficits. Social stories are written in first person text, use visual images or pictures and are short descriptive no fluff stories.

The goal of the social story is to help the autistic child better understand a social situation, skills, behaviour or communication skill they are struggling to master or cope with.

The situation or skill etc. is broken down into relevant social cues with appropriate images in an almost comic like style to show the autistic child by answering the ever important “wh” questions –who, where, why, when and what as well as give an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others.

To learn more about the treatment goals autism and the latest on autism treatments like social skills stories and visual flash cards, Pecs and so on visit sites such as:

Social Stories with pictures are excellent visual strategies that help children with autism spectrum disorder learn social and communication skills and behaviours, a social story can show a child with autism what is expected of them and what they can expect from others.

Social stories with pictures can help a child with autism overcome their fears or complete tasks which they need help understanding.

Social skills stories were developed originally as an aid to communication with autistic children. Social stories are now more widely used as visual strategies, an autistic resource and support, to help encourage and teach social, communication, imagination and sensory processing issues and behaviours.

A social story is a short visual story that has been written in a specific style and format. It describes what happens in a specific social situation and presents information in a structured and consistent manner, by answering the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as giving an insight into the feelings and thoughts of others.

Social stories with pictures or images and first person text are an excellen autistic resource giving clear, concise and accurate information about what is happening in a specific social situation, without un-necessary fluff.

The goal of a social story is to attempt to address the “theory of mind” or social skills deficits by giving individuals some perspective on the thoughts, emotions and behaviours of others.

The theory of mind or social skills deficits is common to all individuals with autism spectrum disorder. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder having social skills deficits can hinder their social development. Having social skills deficits affect how an individual processes information, thinks, act, reacts, communicates, interacts and behaves.

Using social skills stories can address many of the issues faced by children with autism spectrum disorder on a daily basis and long term, the social story can help with changes to routines, transitions and communication difficulties.

Generally children with autism spectrum disorder have communication difficulties and may act oddly in social situations, not because they want to draw attention to themselves but because they may not understand that others can have different opinions to them, or that other people may want to do something different to what they want to do.

This can make social situations unpredictable and confusing to the child on the autism spectrum. Social stories therefore help the child on the autism spectrum understand what is happening and feel more comfortable with and in the situation.

Most children with autism are visual thinkers and learners, therefore by implementing social stories with pictures for social, communication and imagination skills that need teaching is beneficial and can act as an appropriate role model to the autistic child.

For children on the autism spectrum communication difficulties are common. Research suggests that the vast majority of children on the autism spectrum find visual information easier to understand than the spoken word.

Consequently, tools for autism such as visual supports cards and social skills stories are used more effectively for teaching and improving communication in children on the autism spectrum.

It is a fact that visual strategies work best with children on the spectrum. Therefore parents, teachers and other professionals use tools for autism like social skills stories to help address communication difficulties such as asking questions, having a good conversation, calming down and so on.

Social skills stories work well because they are visual, short pieces of first person text in specific patterns of sentence types. Which show by answering the important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as giving an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others.

A common issue in children with autism is their inability to process information in the typical manner. This inability to process information in many cases can lead to communication difficulties as well as social blunders.

A typically developing child naturally learns social and communication skills and the ability to read anotherâ€™s body language and facial expression. Without this ability many children with autism can misread situations and cause harm or hurt feelings without that intention.

By implementing visual strategies such as visual support cards and social skills stories you can teach your child with autism social, communication, imagination skills and behaviours as well as address sensory processing issues that are common to autism, like visiting a dentist, tooth brushing, getting a haircut and so on. Social stories are one of the major tools for autism used today, they are editable, can be personalized and printed for ease of use and convenience.

Learn more about visual strategies for improving communication in children on the autism spectrum like visual supports cards from:

Having an autistic sibling is not easy autism is a complex neurological disorder. A sibling with autism can mean a typically developing child may not get as much attention and will be forced into a more back seat role within the family. This is not intentional, having a child with autism affects the entire family, and coping can be stressful and time consuming for many parents.

Autism affects the way a child develops in three main areas: social interactions, communication and imagination, this is often referred to as the triad of autistic impairments, or social skills deficits.

An autistic child may also be hyper or hypo sensitive, display repetitive behaviours and develop at times peculiar obsessions.

Having a sibling with autism may be frustrating your friends may think your brother/sister is weird they may even poke fun at them, which can be upsetting. An autistic child will not recognise sarcasm or humour because of their communication difficulties they may be unable to join in with jokes and appear aloof even rude at times.

Most children with autism will prefer routines and things to stay the same, which can mean an unexpected tea visit from a friend can upset them and cause anxieties even aggressive behaviours.

These situations are common in many households with an autistic child, autism affects the entire family, and yours is not the only household that suffers these issues.

Learning affective methods for communicating with an autistic sibling is made easier when visual supports are introduced.

Children with autism are normally visual thinkers and learners which means they think in pictures. Therefore using visual supports for autism is going to be beneficial. Visual supports for autism can take many forms, for example, PECS, flash cards, social stories and so on all of which can be used with good results.

Probably one of the major tools used in autism to help with communication difficulties are social stories. Social skills stories are generally written by experts and need no formal training to use.

Social skills stories were first developed by Carol Gray as tools used in autism for the treatment of communication difficulties. Today social skills stories are used for more than just communication difficulties. Social stories are also widely used as a means of treating the triad of autistic impairments or social skills deficits.

An autistic social skills story is normally written in the first person and using appropriate language. The autistic social skills story also uses images to show the skill or situation being targeted with by the story.

Research does show us that children with autism respond well to autistic social skills stories and suggest figures showing improvements in communication skills with children using social stories as a strategy to learn communication skills.

Using social stories as a strategy can help increase your autistic siblings understanding of certain skills and behaviours, such as how to pretend play, asking questions, respecting personal space, sharing, taking turns etc.

Social stories act asa role model of the skill or behaviour and answer the important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as give the child with autism an insight into the thoughts, feelings, emotions and non verbal communications of others which can help reduce anxieties and stressful situations.

To learn more about how social stories can help a child with autism learn social, interaction, communication and imagination skills visit http://www.autismsocialstories.com

Remember autism affects the entire family, getting help can be useful; using visual supports for autism like social skills stories is going to help. To get access to social skills stories on a wide variety of issues visit any of the following sites:

Autism spectrum disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders today, with approximately 1 in every 150 in the US receiving a diagnosis. However it is still not know what causes autism spectrum disorder and why more boys than girls are likely to be autistic.

The symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are common to all individuals on the spectrum. The symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are: deficits in social interaction, communication difficulties and deficits in imagination. The severity of the symptom will vary between individuals.

There are various therapies, resources and treatments available for children with autism that will help address their individual autism symptoms.

It is believed that autistic individuals are visual thinkers and learners and therefore information presented to them visually is far more likely to be understood.

Therefore using resources for children with autism that are visual is essential. Teaching a child on the spectrum to overcome social skills deficits is going to be easier using visual supports and resources such as social skills stories, PECS, flash cards and so on.

Autism social skills stories are used widely by parents, care givers, teachers and other professionals to teach social interaction skills, overcome communication difficulties and help build imagination skills.

Developed almost twenty years ago autism social skills stories can show a child on the spectrum using visual images and first person text what is expected of them.

Visual supports for autism, like social skills stories for autistic children can be used as tools in the home and at school.

The social story should follow a set pattern, always be written from the child’s perspective and give key focus to the main point, describing appropriate responses they may expect to get and those responses others will expect from them.

Generally social skills stories for autistic children are easy to implement, may be edited and printed for ease of use and convenience.

Sites such as http://www.autismsocialstories.com allow downloads for a very small fee of various professionally written autism social skills stories for autistic children as well as other appropriate visual supports for autism, making teaching vital social skills easier for parents and teachers.

To obtain social skills stories for autistic children visit any of the following sites:

Most individuals with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) find social situations very difficult. As typically developing individuals we learn social skills instinctively from our family, teachers, peers and general environment.

Unfortunately individuals with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) are not able to instinctively learn social and communication skills and can sometimes be the subject of jibes, social mistakes and blunders due to their lack of appropriate social and communication skills.

Social stories are used as a treatment of autism to help children with autism spectrum disorder learn and develop an understanding of social and communication skills.

Social stories are used by parents, care givers, teachers and other professionals working or involved with children with autism spectrum disorder and related conditions.

Social Stories were originally developed byÂ therapist Gray to help her communicate with the autistic children she was working with, today social skills stories are used more widely as a means of developing social understanding and addressing communication difficulties.

A social story should introduce appropriate social knowledge, using first person text and visual images to describe the social situation or skill. It explains the how’s and whys of a social setting by answering the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what.

A social story should be made up of four different sentence types, descriptive, perspective, directive and control sentences.

Generally children with an ASD are visual thinkers and learners which means they think in pictures. Therefore when teaching an autistic child it is generally easier to make information as visual as possible, that way the child will find the information easier to understand.

This is why a good social story will give information through pictures and first person text, each social story provides clear, concise and accurate information about what is happening in a specific social situation. The social skills story acts as role model for autistic children, helping them understand and cope with social situations and address communication difficulties effectively.

The teenage years are probably for the vast majority of us our most social years. So what are the autism affects on teenagers? And how can YOU HELPyour teen cope with this confusing period of their life.

The autism affects on teenagers are still similar to those they displayed as a child. The teen with ASD will lack eye contact, have trouble making and maintaining friendships, find conversations difficult, prefer to be alone, have difficulties joining in activities and lack imagination.

Many autistic teens may appear passive and withdrawn. However some autistic teensmay be aggressive display tantrums, shout and generally be difficult to control which can cause stress within the classroom and home as the teen with ASD grows so does their strength and capabilities to be destructive.

For many teens with autism lacking the ability to express their emotions like anger, fear and frustration in ways that are acceptable may cause difficulties, and a behaviour which was acceptable as a child may become inappropriate as the teen with autism grows older.

As their body alters and hormones rage many teens with autism can become anxious and confused. The teen with autism will have a lack of social understanding which can cause stress, coupled with a lack of understanding as to what is happening to them physically, this can be a recipe for disaster.

Treatments of autism that teach autistic teenagers social skills are available and in the majority of cases prove successful.

Teenagers with autism respond well to help with social skills training. Research suggests that social skills training helps reduce the anxieties.

Teachers and parents of ASD teenagers use treatments of autism such as social skills stories to help them teach autistic teenagers social skills and address communication difficulties, such as asking questions, respecting personal space, making friends, menstruation and so on.

The social skills story gives focus to the key points and helps the teenager with autism find answers and techniques for those situations they struggle with.

Social skills stories answer the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as give the teenager with autism an insight into the thoughts, emotions and feelings of others, helping to reduce anxieties and confusion.

A social skills story can be used to help with transitions, hygiene issues, puberty as well as less common issues like appropriate kissing and touching. Social skills stories use visual images and appropriate first person text in a set formula to describe the situation or skills the ASD teen is finding difficult.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disorder of the brain which affects the way a person interacts and communicates with others.

Interestingly, almost four times more boys than girls are diagnosed with autism. Children are generally diagnosed with autism by three years of age.

The term “Autistic Spectrum Disorders” encompasses the many varying degrees of autism, from low functioning autism where the child will almost certainly have other difficulties such as seizures and in most cases educational deficits also. On the other end of the “Autistic Spectrum Disorders” scale – Asperger’s syndrome or high functioning autism, where the child will almost certainly be of average or above average intelligence.

It would be very wrong of us to categorise all children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorders into the same category. As with typically developing children all children with autism develop at varying degrees and no two children will ever be exactly the same.

However that said, all children on the spectrum will have social skills deficits. These are common to autism, social skills deficits affect the way children on the spectrum develop socially, as well as their communication skills and imagination skills.

Having social skills deficits can mean your child with ASD may be unable to communicate effectively, they may find making friends difficult and become stressed in social settings.

For many parents their child’s inability to relate or interact with other people can be stressful. Coupled with their child’s communication difficulties and odd use of language can leave many parents frustrated and needing help to teach their child appropriate social and communication skills and behaviours.

Children with Autism need social skills teaching directly, it is of no use to simply explain what your child should be doing, this will not help. Typically children with autism are visual thinkers and learners, meaningspoken or written information is not going to be understood as easily as information given visually.

So what does this mean for the child with ASD, well put simply talk less and use more visual supports when trying to teach an ASD child social and communication skills.

Children with Autism need social skills as much as everyone else does to help them function. A good source of visual supports are social stories, these treatments of autism have been around for around twenty years and are today probably the most significant treatments of autism used when finding means to teach an ASD child social and communication skills.

Social stories are short descriptive stories much like a comic script with visual images showing a skill or behaviour in a manner that is easily understood by children on the spectrum.

Thesocial skills story breaks down the skill, such as respecting personal space, washing your teeth, taking a bath, eating dinner even visiting the dentist into small chunks, removes the frills and shows with visual images and first person direct text.

Explaining the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what, as well as giving an insight into emotions, thoughts and feelings of those others involved, and suggest possible outcomes.

As well as detailing what to expect from others and in return what they expect in return from the child, all helping to make the child with ASD more comfortable with and in the situation.

For many parents finding theanswers to what is autism and how will it affect my child? can be frustrating.

ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) is a neurological disorder; which is normally diagnosed before a child reaches three years of age.

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is probably one of the most common childhood disorders today, with the majority of kids 1:4 boys more likely to be given a diagnosis of autism.

For the vast majority of ASD individuals their main symptoms of autism mayinclude communication difficulties, social interaction difficulties, forming friendships and imagination deficits.

Generally ASD individuals find it hard to understand and make sense of their environment. This can often be referred to as “Living in their Own World”.

Research shows that the degree of symptoms of autism which are generally referred to as social skills deficits will vary between ASD individuals, as no two children will ever be the same. But all children with autism will have social skills deficits in social, communication, interaction and imagination skills and behaviours.

So what is autism? Here is a list of some of the possible symptomsof autism you may have noticed in your autistic child:

The vast majority of autistic children may lack of the ability to direct others attention to what they want or need. Unlike a normally developing child, who will point or gesture towards the object in question.

Kids with autism rarely adjust their gaze to look at objects, and will often lack the desire to look at something they are being directed towards.

Autistic children have communication difficulties and find sustaining or beginning conversations difficult.

Some kids with autism will be slow developing speech and sometimes speech may never actually begin.

Many autistic children engage in obsessive and repetitive behavioursâ€¦for example repeating a TV commercial or rhyme etc.

Many children with autism confuse simple language terms, and use language in the wrong context, for example they may refer to themselves by name in a conversation or sentence, not by saying â€œIâ€; i.e. rather than saying â€œcan I have a biscuitâ€, they may say â€œBen wants a biscuitâ€ and so onâ€¦

Sometimes kids with autism will prefer to communicate by gesture rather than using speech.

A common issue in most children with autism is their lack of eye contact and social interaction skills and their preference to be alone. This lack of social interaction skill can make forming friendships difficult.

Generally kids with autism will struggle with interactive games and pretend play, failing to see what the point of the activity or game is. This lack of social interaction skills and understanding can sometimes lead to social isolation for the ASD child.

However treatments of autism are available to help address your childâ€™s social skills deficits effectively.

Probably the most successful treatments of autism are visual supports, like social skills stories.

Kids with autism are generally visual thinkers and learners and will respond better to visual information and instruction, to help them overcome their social interaction, communication difficulties and imagination skills deficits successfully.

Therefore using visual supports and strategies like autism social skills stories is beneficial.

Autism social skills stories are used for all situations and activities the ASD child may be confused by or struggling with, for example: Going to the dentist, the death of a loved one, a new car, brushing their hair.

Social skills stories follow a set formula are written in first person text, with no frill language and answer the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what, as well as give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others. Using visual images, autism social stories act as a role model or visual plan that the ASD child can use to give them understanding and clarity helping to make them more comfortable with and ion the situation, skill or behaviour.